JMIR Serious Games

The ACE of Hearts Serious Game for Young People With Adverse Childhood Experiences

The ACE of Hearts project establishes a novel methodological framework for developing trauma-informed digital health interventions by integrating Experience-Based Co-Design with agile software development.

Nintendo Switch-Based Exergaming for Subthreshold Depression: Mixed Methods Randomized Controlled Trial

Commercial exergaming platforms represent a viable and scalable digital intervention for addressing subthreshold depression in young adults.

• An eight-week randomized controlled trial of 84 college students found that Nintendo Switch-based exergaming significantly reduced symptoms of subthreshold depression and anxiety while improving sleep quality.
• The intervention demonstrated long-term efficacy, with positive mental health outcomes remaining stable through a two-month follow-up period.
• Gamified design features, including progressive challenges and real-time feedback, drove high participant engagement, with over 83 percent of the intervention group meeting target activity durations.

Development and Usability of the “FORTEe Get Strong” App: Mixed Methods Study

The FORTEe Get Strong mobile application serves as a gamified health intervention designed to improve physical activity levels and health literacy among pediatric and adolescent cancer patients.

• The FORTEe Get Strong app achieved a high user satisfaction rating of 4.14 out of 5 among a multicenter trial cohort of 53 pediatric and adolescent cancer patients.
• Core gamification mechanics, including a virtual village and customizable avatars, maintained stable engagement levels across diverse demographics regardless of age, sex, or specific cancer diagnosis.
• A primary usability gap exists regarding age-appropriateness, as older adolescent users reported that existing content is better suited for younger children.

Mental Health Professionals' Views on Gaming to Inform Game-Based Interventions

Mental health professionals in Finland maintain a complex, dualistic perspective on gaming, characterized by a distinct self-client attitude asymmetry.

Is Gamification the New Panacea for Health Behavioral Changes?

The health and life insurance industry is undergoing a fundamental transition from passive risk assessment to proactive risk reduction through the integration of gamified wellness programs.

Efficacy of the Web-Based Gamified Infection Control Training System: Hong Kong

The Blended Gaming COVID-19 Training System (BGCTS) serves as a digital intervention designed to enhance infection control standards among healthcare workers in Hong Kong’s residential care sector.

• The Blended Gaming COVID-19 Training System (BGCTS) significantly outperformed traditional briefing sessions in improving critical infection control behaviors among healthcare workers in 13 residential care facilities.
• Gamified training led to measurable, statistically significant improvements in technical clinical performance, specifically regarding PPE application, respiratory hygiene, and hand-rubbing techniques.
• There was a notable disconnect between objective performance gains and subjective self-assessment, as the intervention failed to produce statistically significant changes in participants' self-reported knowledge, attitudes, or confidence levels.

Effect of Gamification on Task Engagement During an Eye-Tracking Test Battery in 5-Year-Old Children Born Preterm

Gamification serves as a highly effective strategy for enhancing engagement and data quality during cognitive assessments of five-year-old children born preterm.

A Serious Game (Health Unit in Focus) for Enhancing Undergraduate Education on Older Adults' Health: Design and Validation Study

The Health Unit in Focus mobile serious game serves as a specialized pedagogical tool designed to improve undergraduate nursing education concerning the health of older adults.

Applying Augmented Reality to Convey Medical Knowledge on Osteoclasts to Users of a Serious Game

Augmented reality serves as a compelling pedagogical tool for medical education, specifically regarding the complex biological processes of bone remodeling and osteoclast function.

A Serious Game to Study Reduced Field of View in Keyhole Surgery: Development and Experimental Study

The development of an open-source serious game provides a novel, accessible methodology for quantifying the cognitive and performance-based challenges inherent in keyhole surgery.

• Restricted fields of view in laparoscopic simulations cause task completion times to increase by 60% to 100%.
• Controlled tests showed average task completion times rising from 9.8 seconds to 16.4 seconds when visual constraints were applied.
• Visual limitations represent a more significant barrier to surgical task performance than other common challenges, such as vessel intertwining.

Considering Theory-Based Gamification in the Co-Design and Development of a VR Intervention

The bWell-D project establishes a framework for developing immersive virtual reality interventions for major depressive disorder by prioritizing theory-based gamification over conventional extrinsic reward systems.

Effect of a Gamified Family-Based Exercise Intervention on Adherence to 24-Hour Movement Behavior Recommendations in Preschool Children

The 3, 2, 1 Move on Study investigates the efficacy of a 12-week gamified, family-based exercise intervention designed to improve adherence to 24-hour movement behavior recommendations among 80 preschool-aged children.